


Spectrum

by Daxolotl



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternian Empire, F/F, Hemospectrum, Multi, Pseudo-Incest, Trollstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 04:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3161243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daxolotl/pseuds/Daxolotl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhozia is a highblood who defied the status quo and the Empress, and was forced to flee for her life. She was saved by Kanaya, a jadeblood who escaped her fate in the brooding caverns. They live within the Alternian Empire, on an uncaring, colourless and grey world. After surviving and living quietly together for sweeps, Rhozia stumbles across Roxane, a mutantblood who defies everything simply by surviving.</p><p>A fill for Innsmouth, as part of the Homestuck Ladyfest (Not A) New Year's Exchange 2014.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spectrum

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Innsmouth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Innsmouth/gifts).



Empire-Authorised Troll Clothing Exchange 892 appears to be an unremarkable store on an unremarkable street in the capital city of the Alternian Empire. It is a grey building that sells grey clothes for grey people. The people have always been the most interesting part, at least according to you. 

Empire-Authorised Troll Clothing Exchange 892 might look like a normal store. But it isn't.

After all, how many stores in the empire are owned and lived in by a jadeblood who abandoned the Order and her calling; how many stores have a cashier like you, a quiet highblood who spoke up against the Condesce and fled for her life?

"Rhozia," your matesprit calls from the back of the shop, "We're a little short on Fabric 220. Can you add it to the list?"

"Sure." You acknowledge the request and flick through your requisition forms, tracking down 220 and ticking the box next to it. Imperial Drone Grey. Wonderful. "Kanaya? I'm going to get us something to drink. Can you mind the store for a few minutes?" You step around the counter and check one of the mirrors. Wrap your black scarf around your gills a few extra times, and then make sure your black hair is securely covering your grey ears. You glance outside at the flurry of rapidly-greying snow and pull on a grey hat and grey mittens.

"As long as you bring me a croissant!" she calls back, and you laugh before stepping out into the street.

The cold hits you like dozens of icy daggers and you wrap your arms around yourself, trudging through the snow with a series of rhythmic crunches. Grey cars race by and you do your best to ignore anyone you walk past. Looming above you, a holoscreen the size of a skyscraper displays your glorious leader's grinning face, laughing at her subjects for all eternity. You scratch at the false symbol adorning your chest with mitten-covered fingers. It does nothing except make you feel better, which makes it worth it.

You push open the door to Empire-Authorised Troll Starbucks 1,025,413. Janiyh smiles at you from her position behind the vast amount of baked goods that every coffee exchange seemed to have and you stomp your boots against the doormat to remove some of the snow caked to them. "The usual for you and Kanaya, I'm guessing?" she asks, already moving to the coffee machine.

You nod thankfully. "And a croissant."

She moves through the store with practised ease, pouring coffee for you and tea for Kanaya, grabbing a croissant, and bumping the display case closed with a move of her hips. You smile and pass her a handful of boonbucks. You hold the paper bag containing the croissants between your teeth and lift up the polystyrene cups, nodding at the barista and exiting the store again.

On the way back, a gust of wind from an alleyway half-unwraps your scarf and you make a noise of annoyance. You try to fix it with your full mitten-covered hands, and manage to drop the croissant. You groan and crouch down, placing the cups down to fix your scarf. You reach out for the fallen baked product and look towards it, down the alley.

That's when you see her.

A curled-up ball of troll, hiding underneath the overhang of the next store along. Even from this distance, you can see her shivering. She notices you noticing her and her eyes widen in fear. Her clothes are far too thin for a perigee this cold. She'll be dead in nights if nobody helps her.

Indecision wracks you, twisting in your gut. You have no idea who this troll is, and you're hardly in a situation to be helping her. You should leave her be. She'll probably be okay, right? She continues to stare at you, and her body continues to shake. She could be unstable. An indigo cult member. There's no way of knowing. It's safer just to walk…away…

You pick up the cups and balance the croissant on them, and then walk over to the troll. Once you get there, you place it all down and crouch next to her. She turns herself away from you and her shivering intensifies. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

She shakes her head repeatedly. Evidently she doubts your claim.

"Would you like a drink? Some food? I have a croissant, and hot tea or coffee."

She pauses and looks at you again with calmer eyes. Processes your words. "Coffee," she says.

You smile and lift the cup, handing it to the troll. She reaches out and her jacket pulls back, revealing arms thinner than any troll's should be. She takes the coffee cup in both hands and holds it close to herself, obviously revelling in the warmth. She takes a sip and hisses as she swallows the still-too-hot liquid. "Thank you," she whispers, and takes another sip.

"Do you have anywhere to stay?" you ask, watching the small troll savour the heat of the coffee. She shrugs.

You leave the croissant next to her and bid her farewell. Kanaya is initially annoyed by your lack of baked goods, but nods in understanding once you explain the homeless troll. "We need to look out for one another," she says. "Those of us who don't belong."

\--

You return the next night. You buy an extra coffee and place it next to the troll. She smiles a little and picks it up, savouring the heat like she had the previous night. You take sips of your own coffee, watching her.

"My name's Rhozia," you establish between sips.

"…Roxane."

"Roxane. That's a nice name."

She smiles again and you both fall into silence. After a few moments, she speaks up. "Thank you. For giving me your coffee yesterday, and for bringing me my own today. It…most trolls wouldn't do that. Especially not for someone like me."

"The Empress has left so many homeless," you respond. "How could I not help?"

She laughs, bitterness leaking into the sound. "Right. Homeless."

You frown in confusion, but don't push her for more information.

\--

Two nights later, you get an answer for your unspoken question. You bring her a cup of coffee again, and a sandwich from the hive. You're fairly sure that living off coffee and baked products was bad for trolls, after all.

You find yourself staring at her as she chews on the sandwich, the coffee held precariously between her knees so she didn't have to miss out on any of its heat. Her eyes had been wide when she'd first seen you, but you've never really looked at them in detail. She's a pretty troll. Her eyes still have a spark within them; a spark of passion and happiness, unfettered by the world she resides in. A spark…and the colour pink. Your own eyes widen as you realise. _Mutant._ She's a mutantblood. If the Empire even knew she existed, she'd be culled.

“Mutant,” you whisper, awe filling your voice.

“Seadweller,” she responds in a manner suspiciously similar to your own.

You two need to talk.

\--

“…You go first.” Roxane is looking at you expectantly.

You lean against the wall and roll your eyes. “Fine, fine," you say, lightly pulling on the tips of your mittens to keep yourself occupied. "I’m a purpleblood. I was raised as one of the social elite. Taught that I and those like me were better than everyone else because of our blood. I…disagreed. I disagreed quite strongly with a lot of what the Empress said. It would’ve been so easy to just lie down and ignore it. But I couldn’t. I was young and ignorant and I thought I could really make a difference. I thought the highbloods would listen to one of their own."

"They didn’t. They completely ignored me, for the most part, or made excuses on the occasions that they did listen. But then I publicly insulted the Empress.”

You pause to sip some coffee and to gauge your audience’s reaction. Roxane seems to be listening intently. “A night later, three Indigos were smashing my door down. I managed to stab one of them, and then I ran. I still don’t know how I managed to get away. Maybe they were more concerned about their wounded companion. Maybe I ran faster than they did. Maybe they were just stoned out of their minds.” You shrug. “Whatever the case, I escaped. That was four sweeps ago. Since then, I’ve been living quietly. Haemoanonymous, or wearing an oliveblood symbol.”

Roxane nods.

"How about you?"

Roxane winces a little and curls up, holding her coffee close to herself. "I, uh…I guess I should start at the beginning."

You grin a little. "That would be the standard place to begin stories, yes, unless you wish to begin in medias res."

"Seaspeech. Fancy. Okay, I can do this," She takes a few moments, breathing steadily. "I have no idea how I escaped the brooding caverns. My first memory is after my pupation. I had a lusus; a cat. I don't know how they got me without anyone from the caverns discovering my blood colour. An administerial error, maybe? However I got out, I had a lusus for a few sweeps."

You're listening closely, sidling up next to her to keep warm.

"The threshecutioners found out; I still don't know how. They came and killed my lusus; gave me a nasty scar on my abdomen. Oh, and hit me hard enough to rupture my left auricular sponge clot, so don't talk to me on that side. I killed them all, and ran. I've been living on the street ever since."

You blink. "Wait. Wait. You're telling me…you killed an entire flaysquad?" Wow.

"I think I might've just permanently disfigured one or two of them."

"Roxane. You are quite the badass, you know that?"

She blushes a little, grinning. "Thanks."

You rise to your feet, stretching and then holding out a hand for the mutantblood to take. "Come on. There's someone I think you should meet."

Roxane stares at your hand for a moment before clasping her own within it, letting you pull her to her feet.

\--

"Kanaya?" you call out as you reach your store.

"I'm back here! I'm glad you're back. I got a new order while you were out, and it'll need all hands on…" your matesprit walks out into the front of the store and trails off mid-sentence as she sees the scrawny mutant next to you. "…hello."

"Kanaya, this is Roxane," you begin, indicating the woman who seems to be doing her best to hide behind you, away from the newcomer. "Roxane, this is Kanaya. It's okay, you can trust her. She's like us." That seems to relax her, and after a moment she steps out into the open.

Kanaya quirks a brow; something she's picked up from you over the sweeps. "Like us? What do you mean? Is this the homeless troll you mentioned to me?"

"What I mean really isn't my place to say," you say, flipping the door's sign to 'back in five minutes' and pulling off your twelfth perigee clothes. The last to be removed is your silk scarf, unwrapped slowly. Your gills react to the open air and your ear-fins twitch.

Roxane does her best not to stare. You can't imagine she's seen many seadwellers before. After a few moments, she turns back to Kanaya. "I'm a mutant. Brightest pink blood you ever did see."

Kanaya's eyes widen in understanding. "I…I see. It's a pleasure to meet you, Roxane, really. My name's Kanaya Maryam; I'm a jadeblood."

Roxy gapes. "A jadeblood? Are you fuckin' kidding me? You're an actual _jadeblood?_ "

"Oh, sure, I'm interesting right up until you meet the jadeblood, and then suddenly I'm boring," you grumble with a grin, walking across the room to kiss Kanaya's cheek. "She's freezing out there. I was wondering…do we have the supplies to get her some extra clothes?"

"A mutant, Rhoz. Really? You really do like to live dangerously, don't you?" Kanaya bumps your shoulder with her own. "It'll be close, but we've got enough to make her something. Until then she can wear some of my clothes; I'd say if I turned up the hems a couple of inches, my size would fit her."

"Hey, wait, what? You said there was someone I should meet, not someone to give me clothes. I'm okay, really, I'm-"

"-Going to freeze to death out there," you finish her sentence for her. "Kanaya helped me when I ran away, even though it was certain death if she was discovered. I want to help people who need it. I told you why I was forced out. So…please? I'm not going to force you to stay or accept any help you don't want."

She thinks about it, staring at the two of you and then at the fabrics and clothes throughout the shop. "…Only if you have an ablution trap."

"Deal."

\--

Kanaya drinks her tea, staring at you. You're knitting a jumper as part of the new order, and you can hear the ablution trap running.

"What is it?" you ask, looking from your knitting and over to your matesprit.

"I'm just...happy."

Okay. You have to say, you weren't expecting that one. "Happy?"

Kanaya smiles. "This city breaks our spirits. This planet, this _empire_ breaks our spirits. When we were younger, we were so idealistic. So vigorous and eager to change the world. We both lost that."

"I'm not seeing the positivity yet."

"But not all of it was lost. We've been living here, quietly surviving, for sweeps now. No rebellion, no great uprising. But when you saw that homeless troll, you realised something I hadn't. You can change the world in other ways. You don't need to overthrow the Empress to make a difference. You can make a difference just by offering our ablution trap and our hive to an outcast with nowhere else to go."

Now it's your turn to stare at her. She finishes her tea and turns to tip the dregs down the drain. Across the living block, you hear the water of the ablution get shut off. "Kanaya..." You don't have the words to describe how much you love this troll. So, instead, you simply cross the room and kiss her on the lips. "Thank you."

The ablution trap door unlocks and an incredibly clean Roxane wanders out in one of your bathrobes, a slash of orange visible along one arm to add some variety to an otherwise plain-grey robe. She's rubbing her hair vigorously with a towel and you laugh. "How did you like it?"

She makes a pleased groaning noise and you try your best to ignore the reaction that has on you. Dammit, polyamorous tendencies, now is not the time. "Oh my gods, so good. Hot water is officially the most amazing invention of all time."

You're surprised to feel Kanaya take a step away from you, towards Roxane. "We've got a spare recuperacoon here. It's Rhoz's old one, but jadebloods go without and she decided to learn a few sweeps ago; she's stubborn like that, in case you hadn't noticed." You can hear Kanaya's grin, and you would mock-glare at her back if you weren't so taken aback by her words. "Would you like to stay here, if only until the cold passes?"

The mutant falters in her hair-rubbing and stares at the two of you. "For serious?"

Kanaya nods.

"…And you two aren't secretly evil murderer cultists or rainbow drinker seductresses?"

You step back to Kanaya's side and give Roxane your toothiest grin. "Well, we're definitely not murderers. I can't guarantee the latter, though."

Roxane blushes. You're fairly sure Kanaya is, too. "Okay. Thank you. Both of you. You didn't need to offer me any of this, so…thank you."

\--

Three nights later, you wander into the main area of the store to find Kanaya teaching Roxane how to sew. You lean against the doorway, watching the two of them. Roxane looks more comfortable now; Kanaya's clothes are a little loose on her, but they're an improvement from the old sixth perigee clothes she'd been wearing when you first saw her.

"You've got a knack for this. With a little practise, you'd make a decent tailor."

"Decent, huh? Such high praise."

Kanaya laughs lightly. "Oh, shush. You know what I mean. And besides, even a decent tailor is more than most planets have. It's just 'Can you make an ill-fitting shirt and a pair of pants in black and/or grey? Yes. Congratulations, you're hired'. Absolutely no variety."

"And that's why you wear what you do?" Roxane asks in response, indicating Kanaya's bright red skirt. The jadeblood nods.

"Plus, she hates pants," you say in response, stepping forwards and causing both trolls to look over at you. "Violently. The last time she tried to wear any they ended up out back, getting torn apart by a chainsaw."

Kanaya scoffs. "She's exaggerating. I wouldn't tear apart pants, no matter how uncomfortable and restrictive they are. You're actually wearing them at the moment," she adds, indicating your guest's current garb.

"Kanaya's teaching me to sew," your guest adds after you've finished ogling her clothing (and her). "I figure since you're letting me stay here, the least I can do is try to help at the store." She gets to a tricky bit of stitching and sticks her tongue out slightly as she concentrates. It's adorable.

"She's good." Kanaya adds, only to watch as Roxane lifts up the shirt she's been working on, with one arm sewn to the other. "…Or, rather, she _will_ be good with a little more practise."

Roxane just grins.

\--

"You like her, don't you?" Kanaya asks you one day, fingers winding their way through messy locks of hair.

The answer comes more easily than you expected. "Yes, I do. Do you?"

Kanaya rolls her eyes. "That isn't what I meant."

"I know."

She blinks.

"I like her. But I also know that I don't want to do anything about that without you by my side in it. She's wonderful, and I know my feelings for her could grow if I allow them to, but," you pause and swallow. The words never come easily to you, but, you need to say it. "I love you. And if you aren't comfortable taking our relationship in that direction again, then we won't."

"Rhoz…" Kanaya begins.

"Porrim was a long time ago, and…we both know how that turned out. I'd completely understand if you didn't want to invite a third into our relationship again. Too many bad memories, or even just an opinion that we tried it and it didn't work out."

"Rhozia, I can't believe I'm going to say this: you're rambling."

You stop talking. "Oh. That's new."

She leans in and kisses your forehead. "I like her. And…if she'd be open to the possibility, I'd love to have her as a matesprit."

Oh. "Oh. Well, then. That works."

\--

Of course, it isn't exactly easy to tell a troll _hey, both me and my partner would like to pail you senseless, but if you don't then it's fine_ , especially when she's living with you. You don't want to coerce her into anything, or make her feel like accepting is her only option.

She and Kanaya have picked up some sort of secret project. You see the two of them sewing together sometimes, and you notice your matesprit's hands often guiding Roxane's. You've all-finished with the large order, and the fabrics used are far too bright.

You curb your curiosity, though, and work on seducing the mutantblood. You walk together in the snow, her chest adorned with her own false symbol. The weather is warming, slowly, and the snow on the ground thins every day. Roxane's feet scuff happily through the slush while you pad alongside, your arm interlinked with hers. Even through layers of clothing, you can feel how warm she is in comparison to you; warmer even than a rustblood.

"I'm happy you're here with us," you tell her. "You liven the place up. If I'm being honest with you, Kanaya and I…we'd all but given up, resigned ourselves to living quietly in a clothing exchange for the rest of our nights. We both had such fire…seeing it still within you gives us hope."

She smiles widely and bites her lip, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with her free hand. "Thanks. I…guess I should say you're welcome, too, since you're kinda thanking me for burning things or whatever?"

"Yes, Roxy, I'm thanking you for committing arson," you say, grinning at her.

"Roxy?"

"…Sorry. It seemed to make sense to me. Kanaya calls me Rhoz; it made sense to call you Roxy. Should I not?"

She kisses your cheek, her cheeks flushed pink. "No, I like it. I like it a lot."

"I'm glad you do," you say, privately glad that your black scarf covers up your blushing ear-fins. You tug of your mittens and place your hands on Roxane's cheeks. She squawks and takes a step back, laughing.

"Cold hands! Cold hands!"

You smile at her and the two of you stop outside Janiyh's Starbucks. "Come on, I'll buy you something warm and pastry-based."

"Swooooon."

\--

You lie face-down on your bed, groaning. "It's just so haaaaard."

You hear an identical, but much less muffled, groan from Kanaya. "It's hard and no one other than us understands."

You roll over and look at the troll by your side. "How do I mention, in casual conversation, that hey, I'd like to mack with you, and hey, my matesprit is fine with it and also wants to mack with you."

"I'd advise against using the word 'mack' in there."

"Kiss, make out with, pail into the wall, pail into next week, fuck?"

"I'd advise against most of those, too," Kanaya adds, dryly.

"Dammit. So what _can_ I do?"

"That's what I've been trying to work out. I've tried dropping hints and holding her hands way too much, but she's not having it."

You lift up your pillow and throw it across the room in annoyance. "Damnable social norms. She sees a pair of perfectly happy matesprits and just _assumes_ that they don't want a relationship with her."

"And assumes that we haven't been checking out her arse every chance we get."

You point to Kanaya and nod thoughtfully. "Also very true."

The troll next to you begins rhythmically thumping her head against her pillow. "She's just so caring and thoughtful and lovely and damnably hot, and I don't know what to do about it. How did I seduce you to begin with?"

You think back. "From memory, I got immensely drunk and proceeded to openly admit that I wanted youou."

"…Let's not do that."

You pout dramatically. "And I was just thinking to myself that getting us all drunk would be the fastest solution. And the fastest way of imbibing solutions."

"Science puns. Yaaaaaaaay," Kanaya responds, a complete lack of celebration evident in her voice.

You sigh and close your eyes. "It's just…hard."

"It's hard, because she's so perfect and I just want to kiss her but I know that any normal troll would completely freak out about that, and it's just…Roxane."

"I know what you mean. I…how do you admit to someone that you want to be their matesprit, when you already ha…" you open your eyes.

Oh, shit.

There is, in fact, a mutantblood standing at your doorway and staring at the two of you. 

"…Hi, Roxy."

\--

Both you and Kanaya jump to your feet. 

"Roxane, we can explain. I. And. To do that explaining, Rhoz will now say words."

Your mouth opens and closes a few times. You barely register Kanaya's words. "I. Uh."

"You two…both. You both, uh."

You curse internally. So, she'd been standing there for a fair while, then. There's no use hiding anything. "Yes. Kanaya and I. We both…want you. As a matesprit."

Suave, Rhozia.

"If you're angry or freaked out or you want to leave, then we'll understand. We're not going to push you for anything. And if you're just not interested, you don't need to worry about this. We're not going to throw you out into the cold over some unrequited feelings," Kanaya adds, and you make a note to kiss her after this conversation for being eloquent when you're a stuttering mess.

Roxy takes a step forward. "Well, I can safely say that this is a new experience. It's not every night that you get told that two gorgeous women both want to be your matesprit, at the same time."

Wait, what.

"I'll say that it's a surprise, but I'll also say that I. I've been dealing with liking both of you for quite a while now, so…yes. Yes, this is something I want to try."

Oh.

That's a surprise.

"I'd like to be kissing you both now, if that's alright. But, uh, I'm not really sure how that's meant to work."

That one is even more of a surprise. You look around at Kanaya and, despite the shock evident on her face, she urges you forwards.

You take a few steps, closing the gap, and Roxane kisses you.

Her lips are chapped from the weather and her teeth are blunter than Kanaya's, but her skin is soft and her whole body exudes heat. Her hands move to your waist, tracing circles against your ample hips with her fingers. You shudder and press yourself closer to her. She warms you to your core, her touch sending lances of heat through you.

After a few moments she pulls back, gasping. "…Wow," she whispers, and you nod wordlessly.

You stand in her arms for a few moments before stepping away. Roxane's eyes fall on Kanaya, and she steps toward the bed. The two meet and, oh _gods_ , that might just be the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in your entire life. Kanaya kisses the smaller troll eagerly, her hands stroking over Roxy's back even as the mutant knots her fingertips in Kanaya's hair, pulling her closer. After a while, they too separate, and Kanaya murmurs something similar to your silent sentiments.

Roxy lets herself be held by Kanaya for a moment, then smirks. "If you two really are a coven of rainbow drinker seductresses, I'm gonna be pissed."

You laugh.

\--

A few nights later (after large amounts of enthusiastic kissing, and large amounts of _very_ enthusiastic pailing), Roxane and Kanaya approach you with a mischievous glint in their eyes and with Roxane's arms clasped behind her back. You quirk an eyebrow at them, but otherwise don't react.

"We made something for you," Kanaya says, and you give them your attention.

"I'm not sure whether I should be excited, flattered, or worried."

"Some mixture of all three is fine," Roxy says, grinning and kissing your cheek. "When Kanaya first started showing me how to sew, she talked about how everything is just black and grey here. How there's no colour in the clothing. And it made me start thinking. We're a species obsessed with the haemospectrum. Obsessed with what blood colour we are. But we're so scared of other colours. Of vibrant pink and bright red and everything in between. And then you told me that you and Kanaya had almost given up, and that…something about fires burning inside me."

She laughs to herself, shifting slightly. "I wanted to give you something to fight a little bit at a time, and to remember your own fire." She pulls an object from behind her back and holds it out to you.

Folded in her hands is a simple pink scarf, little more than a long sash of fabric.

"I figured you always wear your scarf anyway, so it'd be a good thing to make for you. Also, scarves don’t have complicated patterns. I know it's not great, but,"

You kiss Roxy, blushing. "Thank you. I love it."

Your matesprit smiles, wrapping the length of pink fabric slowly around your neck and trying to be mindful of your gills. "I tried to make you a dress, but Kanaya had to cut it up with her chainsaw."

"Exaggeration?" you ask, looking over at Kanaya.

"No, no, I honestly did tear it apart with my chainsaw."

You laugh and hook your arm around Kanaya's waist, grabbing a handful of her red skirt and pulling her towards you for a three-troll hug.

"…I also asked Kanaya if she could make me a few other things. But you'll see them in bed." Roxy winks, and you flush purple.

Outside, grey snow flurries down, falling on grey streets, grey buildings, grey cars, and grey people. But within Empire-Authorised Troll Clothing Exchange 892, a highblood who defied her caste, a jadeblood who defied her calling, and a mutantblood who defied death itself find comfort in each other's arms. 

The people have always been the most interesting part.

**Author's Note:**

> The original prompt from Innsmouth was:
> 
> "I don't know about anyone else, but I could really go for something not soul-crushing after that update. I was in tears. It hurt me.
> 
> So. Not-depressing Rose/Roxy/Kanaya, anyone? Go on. Make it cute. Rot my teeth from sweetness, mate."
> 
> I hope this is sufficiently tooth-rotting for their needs.


End file.
